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Category: Labour

Could “Cash for Peerages” bring down Blair?

Could “Cash for Peerages” bring down Blair?

Have honours been abused to boost a controversial education policy? Until the arrest yesterday of the City Academies fundraiser, Des Smith, I thought that Tony Blair would escape from the “cash for peerages” row relatively unscathed. After all the Prime Minister has survived an awful lot, from Bernie Ecclestone through to David Kelly and the Hutton hearings, that those legendary Teflon qualities would see him through almost anything. Now I am not so sure. For abusing the honours system to…

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The Milburn Candidature: Punters underwhelmed

The Milburn Candidature: Punters underwhelmed

..and Gordon says he hasn’t been told the date Until the succession issue has been resolved almost all senior Labour figures are going to have to negotiate themselves through fierce leadership-related questioning whenever they agree to be interviewed. And even after they have left the studios their every word will be subject to intense scrutiny by journalists looking for a story – particularly on quiet news days. Even Gordon Brown is not immune – all reporters seemed to want to…

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Populus poll boost for Tony Blair

Populus poll boost for Tony Blair

Labour back into the lead & party supporters want him to stay This month’s poll from Populus in the Times, puts Labour back into the lead for the first time since January. Its shares are with comparisons on last month CON 34%(-1): LAB 36%(+1): LD 21%(+1) – so a two point fall-off in the Tory position has seen one point jumps for Labour and the Lib Dems. This is in line with other recent polls which have seen the Tory…

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Will naming a date keep the Blair premiership alive?

Will naming a date keep the Blair premiership alive?

ICM has 42% saying he should go now With relations between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown said to have reached new lows an ICM poll in the Rupert Murdoch-owned News of the World has 42% saying that the Prime Minister should step down immediatly. A further 15% say he should “go within a year” and a further 13% want him out before the next General Election. Only 21% think that Tony Blair should stay on until after the General Election….

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Has Tony outsmarted them again?

Has Tony outsmarted them again?

No apologies – it’s back to the Blair non-departure With Tony Blair’s departure date comments in Australia continuing to cause ructions and Labour MPs calling for in that well-worn cliche a “smooth transition” I’ve returned to the political betting markets with a few hundred pounds to bet on the Prime Minister surviving. The 3/1 that’s available on him staying beyond the end of next year looks great value. There are several reasons:- Labour party rules make a challenge to the…

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Why the reluctance to burst the Blair bubble?

Why the reluctance to burst the Blair bubble?

Are Labour MPs fearful about Gordon? The Tory party, as in the poster above, might have called on the electorate to “burst Blair’s bubble” in the 2001 General Election campaign but they lost and lost again. Now in spite of the appalling headlines there does not seem much Labour pressure for him to go. From this distance the Tory strategy behind the poster looks questionable. For all it did was to highlight what has proved to be one of Labour’s…

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Will Ed succeed Gordon at Number 11?

Will Ed succeed Gordon at Number 11?

Darling now favourite to be next Chancellor Given the 0.33/1 price tag on Gordon Brown being the next Labour leader a more interesting market for those turned off by such tight prices is on who will be his replacement as Chancellor. The above chart shows the implied probability of the two front-runners, Alastair Darling and Ed Balls based on best betting prices. Apart from a shot period immediately after David Cameron’s Tory leadership victory when George Osborne came into the…

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Is Charles Clarke the man to tell Blair to go?

Is Charles Clarke the man to tell Blair to go?

Should the “men in grey suits do their duty”? After all the pressure on Tony Blair over the “loans for honours” row yesterday’s budget must have felt like a welcome respite. But this morning the left-wing magazine, the New Statesmen, joins the growing list of newspapers and magazines which are calling for an early Tony Blair departure. This is not yet available online but according to Newsnight it says that “the men in grey suits must do their duty” –…

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